Arizona government officials are barred from taking any actions that disallow medical marijuana patients from taking their medicine, even as a term of probation, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled April 7.

A federal judge on Monday sentenced former U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi to three years in prison for convictions on public corruption, money laundering and other charges, capping a corruption case prosecutors said began more than a decade ago.

The Legislature tried to give probation departments a financial incentive in 2008 to keep revocations and prison populations down.

However, lawmakers never came up with the money for the incentives. And this past session, lawmakers repealed the incentives program known as the Safe Communities Act (SCA). Even in the absence of the financial part, the program was considered a success by some because of the methods probation departments developed and refined during that time.

Marc Adreani, the owner of an illegal Scottsdale poker room, was sentenced Nov. 18 to three years of probation with fines reaching almost $1,800. The ruling stopped short of the $2,250 in fines the city of Scottsdale sought. It also returned some items to Adreani that the city had sought forfeiture of.